Thursday

PANAMA CITY — The house Johnny Campbell moved into as a boy in 1947 still stands near the corner of Washington Drive and Cove Boulevard.

PANAMA CITY — The house Johnny Campbell moved into as a boy in 1947 still stands near the corner of Washington Drive and Cove Boulevard.

Cove Boulevard was a dirt road then.

“Anything is better than a dirt road,” Campbell said. “Anything they do is going to be an improvement.”

He has moved to St. Andrews since, and Cove Boulevard has been paved, expanded to four lanes and part of it renamed Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Thursday night, Campbell was one of a group of people having a look at the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT) latest proposed improvements to two major roads and a major intersection in Panama City — Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard (State 77) and 15th Street (U.S. 98).

FDOT invited the public to express concerns with the project at the Glenwood Community Center Thursday night. The resurfacing project, drainage and sidewalk improvements are intended to extend the longevity of the roadways and improve safety conditions.

“We resurface about every 10 to 15 years; now with new technology and asphalt it’s every 15 to 20 years,” said Ian Satter, spokesman for FDOT. “This was on the cycle for resurfacing.”

Ruts have developed in the roads from the high volume of traffic over the years, which causes standing water.

Slated for the beginning fall of 2014, resurfacing, drainage improvements, new signs and signals will begin on 1.7 miles of State 77 concluding in winter of 2015. The following summer, the same repairs and improvements will begin west of Jenks Avenue along U.S. 98 for 2.3 miles to East Avenue. That portion is scheduled for the summer of 2015 until spring 2016.

Each project will involve intermittent lane restrictions and could cause severe traffic congestion if construction takes place during certain times. However, Satter said, FDOT is still looking at construction times to minimize the impact to commuters and residents.

“We are going to refrain from being out there in peak hours,” Satter said. “We don’t want to be out there during the commute to work or school and we don’t want to be there in the afternoon. If it’s a residential area we don’t want to be working late at night, so there are still all these discussions of when we are going to do the work.”

Resurfacing of U.S. 98 is projected at about $4 million and State 77 is projected to cost $1.1 million.

Nearby residents expressed concerns for public safety.

“The speed limit is much too fast for residential,” said Brenda Armstead, nearby resident. “We’ve had several people getting killed crossing the street in the past two or three years.”

Armstead filled out a comment form that will be included in the public record requesting the speed limit be reduced from 45 to 35 mph.

“The mall speed limit is 35 mph and that’s commercial,” Armstead said. “It’s almost like you want people to speed through the residential to get to that, but we have kids out here and people who don’t have adequate transportation.”

Satter said all public comments will be reviewed to see if any can be implemented as part of the project.

The FDOT is aware of problems with the configuration of the U.S. 98/ Jenks Avenue/ U.S. 231 area, Satter said, but the resurfacing will not address that.

“We know it can be problematic at times,” Satter said. “… I never say never. That could be a project in the future.”

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.